The team over at PlayStation EU have put together an excellent series of posts gathering some end-of-year thoughts from a group of prolific creators. We were thrilled with how they turned out, so we’re running the series here as well. If you’re based in Europe, do yourself a favor and bookmark the EU PlayStation.Blog for more high-quality, region-appropriate updates and announcements into 2018 and beyond.

2017 is a year packed not only with great gameplay moments, but with fantastic characters. Be it new heroes (Horizon Zero Dawn’s Aloy) or returning rogues (Uncharted’s Chloe Frazer), we asked developers from across the PlayStation spectrum to name their favourite faces from the past 12 months.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice’s Senua

As chosen by…

“That has to be Senua, or better yet the actress playing Senua, Melina Juergens. She has done a tremendous job in bringing the character to life.” Hermen Hulst, Co-founder, Guerrilla Games (Horizon Zero Dawn)

“She’s a massive leap forward in characterisation, executed very thoughtfully, very skilfully. I’ve definitely never played a character like her before – and I want more!” Gavin Price, Creative Lead, Playtonic (Yooka Laylee)

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy’s Chloe Frazer

As chosen by…

“Aside from being an extremely cool individual, she felt like a very real person – they weren’t merely depicted as female characters created to serve as eye candy.” Fumihiko Yasuda, Director, Team Ninja (Nioh)

“The more you play, the more you understand the different nuances that defines her; rough on the outside but way more complex on the inside.” Damien Kieken, Game Director, Ubisoft (For Honor)

“I was already a fan of Chloe since Uncharted 2 and I was so glad when I heard Naughty Dog had decided to make a spin-off based just on her. After Horizon: Zero Dawn, The Lost Legacy, Hellblade and Battlefront II’s main campaign, it’s good to see that female leads are finally getting the attention they deserve in AAA productions. It’s a bold move, really, and I appreciate the studio for giving us more of Chloe’s adventures.” Román Echevarrena, Producer, RecoTechnology (Numantia)

Horizon Zero Dawn’s Aloy

“In a world with games and movies that feature superheroes and powerful characters that face extinction-level threats all the time, it’s always interesting to play as characters like Delsin (Infamous: Second Son), Nathan Drake (Uncharted) or Aloy – characters that have to discover what it is they’re good at, improvise when thrust into dangerous situations, and handle threats that exist more on a personal level than a global one.

“The thing that makes Aloy so interesting is that she’s not only discovering herself, she’s starting out from a much lower point than some other characters – from a place of exile, as an outcast from birth, and for reasons she’s never even been told. It’s not a story that gets told so well very often, and it makes you think about the real places in our world where a story like Aloy’s — being an outcast solely because of tradition, superstition, or caste — might not be fiction.” Jeramy Bergerson, Associate Producer, Arkane Studios (Prey)

“Horizon’s Aloy was just a genuine surprise for me, the game intro really created a very strong bond between her and the player.” James Valls, Senior Producer, Rebellion (Battlezone)

“Aloy is such a great character; warm, compassionate, motivated and capable. Ashley Burch gives her such depth in her performance. Every interaction was a treasure in a game already full of them.” Brad Davey, Lead Designer, Sumo Digital (Snake Pass)

Nier: Automata’s 2B

As chosen by…

“Video games often struggle conveying subtle emotions in their human characters. Nier: Automata is a game about fighter androids who are not allowed to have feelings or even their own name. Yet 2B ends up displaying a wide range of believable emotions throughout the many twists and turns of the story. I was expecting a kick-ass action game, but 2B took me on a deep dive to the depths of the human soul. All the while kicking ass left and right!” Joona Heinikoski, Gameplay Engineer, Housemarque (Nex Machina, Matterfall)

Battle Chasers: Nightwar’s Gully

As chosen by…

“It may be a little shallow since I worked on the game, but I think Gully, from Battle Chasers: Nightwar, is an awesome protagonist! It’s not every day you get to play a badass 12-year-old girl with super strength, who can hold her own against giant War Golems and hordes of the undead.” Steve Madureira, Lead Designer/Lead Animator, Airship Syndicate (Battle Chasers: Nightwar)

Undertale’s Papyrus

As chosen by…

“Papyrus was awesome and well written. He works hard, like me and you got a whole section of the game where you got to hang out with him so we bonded.” John Johanas, Director, Tango Gameworks (The Evil Within 2)

Yakuza’s Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima

As chosen by…

“The chemistry between these two is just something else. I think it captures this idea of true rivalry perfectly. Plus, if there ever was an award for best bromance, theirs is one for the ages.” Michał Dobrowolski, Senior Game Designer, CD Projekt Red (The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, Gwent)

N. Sane Trilogy’s Crash Bandicoot

As chosen by…

“I bought the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, and even though I had completed all the original games, I had forgotten everything this time round and am having a lot of trouble progressing through them. I play intensively for around 30 minutes each day.” Hiroaki Kato, Producer, Square-Enix (Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age)

Playdead’s Arnt Hensen

As chosen by…

“I suppose I’d have to say it was actually Arnt Jensen of Playdead – the company who developed Inside. He appeared on stage at the Tokyo Game Show and was so shy and so quiet that he left quite an impression on me. There are a lot of people from abroad who would stand on that stage with tons of confidence, so I was rather charmed by the very different figure he painted.” Yoko Taro, Director, Platinum Games (Nier: Automata)

The first 4 picks are all female, and I absolutely agree with them all. So great to see strong, interesting women leading big-budget, critically acclaimed games. Makes me happy that my wife and daughter can play more games with female leads.
Sadly I can’t help but notice almost everyone interviewed for this list is a man. Perhaps next year try asking a couple of women too, if you can find some in the industry? Not trying to complain, just looking for some different perspectives. It’s funny to see a list full of great female characters compiled almost entirely by men.

Mine was Futaba from Persona 5. A lot of the P5 characters seemed like rehashed versions of previous games, but Futaba was different. Her backstory is just unbelievable and watching her conquer her own fears and doubts was a joy.